a strum of the biwa was heard. y/n was observing her fishes. most of them had unfortunately died due to their traumatic journey in the plastic bag. however, the young demon wasn't that affected since daki had asked servants to bring y/n's favourite food to cheer the child up.
with her hair and body all dolled up, y/n had never been happier than ever. she felt like a whole princess despite being far from one.
she was teleported back into a familiar room. all demons except akaza was present. the demon progenitor thought it was unnecessary for him to be present as he had already passed this measly loyalty test. y/n dressed in another set of kimono with accessories adorning her hair in (hairstyle of choice).
y/n's eyes practically lit up when she saw her father figure standing in front all the demons. the upper moon kneeled down in respect. the child realised the absence of her second favourite demon, her father being the first. looking around aimlessly, y/n leaped off daki's side and went to muzan with grabby hands, asking to be held up.
the demon king complied and held y/n up with no complaint. in this spare pocket of time, he examined y/n, rid of any injures, her face plastered with a giddy smile.
"otou-san, akaza?"
y/n asked with a question mark surrounding her. muzan understood what y/n had implied and replied with an indifferent tone.
"he's not needed here, in fact daki isn't too."
muzan icy glare reached daki as the female eyes stayed on the ground in fear of offending the demon king. y/n could comprehend what her father was saying and waved her hands at the white-haired demon.
"bye-bye daki!"
the gifts that daki had bought which spoiled y/n endlessly had already been transported to her room with nakime's help. the room was filled to the brim with new clothing and jewels that y/n fancied. days ago, y/n was suffering in the harsh cold with nothing but a thin layer of clothing. to think that now, she had a shelter and warm clothes to wear sounded like a fever dream to her.
but it was real. this was reality. she was surrounded by the world's most feared demons without the care of the world-- her father being the demon progenitor.
before daki could reply to y/n's goodbye, she was teleported back to the red light district where the room was bare of the gifts she had gotten for y/n. a small surge of emptiness filled y/n as she reminisced the enthusiasm y/n had brought to her room.
even if it was just a tiny span of time, daki had grown a soft spot of the child demon. though she would never admit it.
with the distractions away, she had matters on her hand, there were suspicious girls infiltrating the red light district. the upper moon couldn't wait to feast on those girls who thought could trick her.
"otou-san, daki give mannnyyyy this!"
y/n pointed at her clothing with a wide smile as she snuggled herself on muzan. the demon king didn't bother to reply and instead nodded. he glanced at the remaining demons that were kneeling.
upper moon one, kokushibo.
upper moon two, douma.
upper moon four, hantengu.
upper moon five, gyokko.
the demon lord wondered which demon the young child would chose to spend her time. in fact, his time was running thin as he needed to go back to his human life.
"who would you like to spend your time with?"
muzan's voice reached y/n's ears as y/n shook her head in return.
"akaza."
y/n replied, her voice soft. she wanted to play face painting with akaza and watch the fireworks again.
"he's busy."
muzan said nonchalantly. he needed y/n to pick her demon babysitter fast. y/n pouted a bit before squinting her eyes at the upper demons.
she didn't like the vibes of gyokko wholeheartedly hence he was a no-no. she was borderline scared of hantengu due to his appearance. that left with kokushibo and douma. the sadistic smile on douma's face was seriously throwing y/n off so she pointed at the upper moon one.
the six yellow pupils that bore holes onto her did not alarm y/n one bit. she thought that kokushibo looked cool. she wanted to touch the sword that was by his side. it seemed so shiny and y/n couldn't say no to shiny things.
"kokushibo. i expect her to be back safe."
muzan looked at him in a condescending way before allowing y/n to waddle to the upper moon.
"as you wish."
kokushibo stoically replied, looking at y/n who was nudging him in the legs with a flowery aura. the upper moon one didn't know what to make of y/n. he thought that she was weak and yet she had caught the attention of the demon lord.
the sound of the biwa bounced off the walls of the infinity fortress and the two were teleported to a foreign place.
it was a dojo but y/n didn't know what it was called. her eyes gazed curiously at the number of dummies that stood up. the place was clean with minimal decorations. the walls had blades hung onto it and the ceiling was high. there were taiko drums in the corner of the room, dust piling up on it. the floor space was huge and bare so y/n had plenty of space to run around and aloof in.
"wahhh~!"
y/n ran around in glee, with her hands spread out as she jumped around the artifacts that were either hung onto the wall or displaced in a showcase. it was all new to the girl and for her to be fascinated by them was an understatement.
kokushibo looked at y/n with a keen eye, to keep a lookout for her if she even falls. y/n finally stopped when she realised the demon that she was with did not move a single inch. y/n tugged onto his pants.
his six yellow eyes flickered to the small child that wasn't even at his waist height.
"do you need something?"
kokushibo asked. y/n stared in awe at the flame like pattern on his face. the engraving on his eyeballs and his maroon hair tied up in a ponytail made y/n think that it was cool. kokushibo had kneeled down one knee to get to y/n's height.
"me y/n >:)"
y/n replied enthusiastically, totally not understanding what kokushibo had meant.
"kokushibo."
his name left his mouth listlessly as y/n's eyes widened at the word. such a long name! y/n thought to herself.
"ko...ku...si..bu?"
y/n tried to articulate his name but it was butchered up due to her inexperience with education.
"koku...shibo."
the upper demon helped her by pronouncing his name again, slowly.
"shibo!!"
y/n exclaimed, totally forgetting that the first two parts of his name existed. kokushibo let it slide and sat on the ground. he didn't know how he should entertain the young child. never in a hundred years of his demon life would he think that he would be babysitting a demon child. but it was real.
there she was, l/n y/n, a child demon that had gained the favour from the demon king.
"sparkle...!"
y/n pointed at kokushibo's blade with sparkles quite literally in her eyes. she wanted to play with the sword due to her undying interest in things that were sparkly.
not knowing how to reply or what to do, kokushibo decided to stay silent. y/n sulked a bit when she realise that the demon wasn't going to do anything. usually, kokushibo would be training his skills to get better and at night time, he would hunt and feast on humans.
"explore!!"
y/n said with a smug look on her face. when she had said that to akaza or daki, both of them declined it and tried to distract y/n with other activities. kokushibo knew that they couldn't go out yet so he said nothing.
silence enveloped them. y/n pouted and went to kokushibo's lap. her body sprawled on his lap when kokushibo eyed the child demon.
what does she want? the upper moon thought to himself. he truly sucked at babysitting because y/n was rolling around on kokushibo's lap.
"shibo, y/n want play..."
y/n sulked. kokushibo abruptly got up from the ground, carrying y/n in return. her body laid on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. y/n looked off from the ground and realised how high she was at, she had almost let out a scream at the distance.
the upper moon one then let her down as he took out a training sword, made out of wood. it would be safe for her. confused, y/n looked at the wooden sword. it had the same shape as kokushibo's shiny blade but it was different since wood wasn't shiny. y/n was a little bummed out by that but she started to run around with the sword in her hands. occasionally stopping to try and stab the straw dummies.
kokushibo watched intently. a child who had no experience prior to sword fighting, was having a show down with a straw dummy. it was amusing to say the least but he could tell that y/n was lacking in skills.
he walked over to the girl who was muttering some words at the straw dummy.
"(f/f)... explore... play..."
y/n glared at the straw dummy.
"you're... holding it wrong."
kokushibo said slowly. he had gotten a false sword and held it in a correct manner to show y/n. the girl saw her errors and tried holding it in the right way. y/n's concentration span was short but she absorbed the information passed by kokushibo quick. she was a fast learner to say the least.
y/n remembered about the time where she saw children hiding with a seeker looking for them. y/n tried to join in the game but the children had ridiculed her which led her to be excluded from the group.
"hide seek!"
y/n said out, thinking about what the children had called the game. well, she was close and almost there.
"hide and seek?"
kokushibo questioned. setting the fake sword down. y/n nodded her head with a quick manner before pointing at kokushibo, "seek."
just then, y/n ran out of the dojo to see that there were other rooms in the dojo. she tucked herself under the table where there were boxes scattered around her. y/n held her breath with her hands above her mouth to stifle any gasps that left her.
kokushibo stood in the dojo main room motionless, thinking about what the heck had just happened. he, the second strongest demon, had to play hide and seek with a mere demon child. he could be honing his skills to perfection right now but no, he had to seek out a child which he could clearly tell her location.
individuals had scents that lingered with them and with the heightened senses of his demonic abilities, he already knew where y/n is.
without any trouble, kokushibo saw y/n under a table. he squatted down and pushed the boxes away for y/n to move out. busted, y/n peeked out and saw the gentle demon in front of her.
in a fit of giggles, y/n ran to kokushibo and hugged his legs.
"found me."
y/n stated with a wide smile.
kokushibo couldn't help it. he could feel the ends of his lips curving upwards at y/n's excitement.
"i found you."
calmly stating, kokushibo carried y/n out of the dusty room and back to the main room. there was no way that kokushibo would be hiding in his dojo so he decided to entertain y/n by bringing out a wood.
y/n looked at the piece of wood with question marks surrounding her. in the whole afternoon and evening, kokushibo had thought y/n how to make wooden bird toy. the child did a horrible job at carving it out but she had her share of fun.
when nightfall came, the two exited the dojo and were walking around the dense forests. thoroughly entertained by chasing the stars that floated in the sky, y/n stayed on kokushibo's shoulders most of the time. she watched him hunt down big animals for pure entertainment and was unfazed.
her legs dangling over his shoulders, y/n played with kokushibo's hair, fluffing and tugging it. the bird toy that she had made was tied as a necklace with a string.
a string of words left y/n as she looked at the moon, the moonlight enveloping the ground for the two to see.
"this is the best day!"